For a perfect straight-up margarita, use a good quality 100% blue agave tequila), a good orange liqueur such as Bols Triple Sec Curacao (Export version) 39% alcohol, and freshly squeezed lime juice. Shake with ice and strain through a regular strainer and a teastrainer into a chilled cocktail or coupette glass rimmed (only on the outside) with salt. We recommend rimming only half the glass, as this accomodates both guests who like the salt rim and those who do not.

Perhaps the world's most popular cocktail. The margarita is a tequila sour, soured with lime juice instead of lemon juice, and both sweetened and flavoured with triple sec liqueur. An alternative way to think of it is as a tequila sidecar with a salt rim instead of a sugar rim, the sidecar being the most likely ancestor of this drink. The above ratio tequila-triple sec-lime juice of 2:1:1 may be varied according to your preference, e.g. 2:1:2 or even 1½:1:1. Many people drink margaritas on-the-rocks (above recipe but poured over ice) or frozen (above recipe blended with a scoop of crushed ice). Popular alternatives are using lemon juice instead of, or as well as, lime juice, using varying orange liqueurs (Bols Blue, Bols Dry Orange Curacao) and adding fresh fruits and fruit liqueurs (e.g. strawberry puree and Bols Strawberry). In such frozen fruit margaritas, the triple sec is sometimes omitted. No pre-mix or Margarita Mix or fruit syrup will ever have more than half the taste of fresh